Your excellent feature, Before The Beatles (RC 326)was the best read Iâ€™ve had for a long time. I would,however, like to correct the Embassy part. It saysthat Ross McManus (Elvis Costelloâ€™s dad), recordedunder the names of Hal Burton and David Ross, but thisis untrue. I have been compiling information onEmbassy for several years now and have correspondedwith and spoken to Ross, who denies having recordedforthe label at any point. When I sent him tapes of theHal Burton and David Ross recordings, it was the firsthe had heard of them. Even Johnny Gregory at Embassycould not place Ross McManus.

But Ross did record cover versions of the days hitsfor Crossbow, Rocket and Cannon, labels owned byAustralian Allan Crawford. These included a cover ofSteve Lawrence and Eydie Gormeâ€™s I Want to Stay Hereby Hal Prince (Ross McManus) and Joan Baxter. Joanrecorded for several labels, even recording the samesong for different labels on the same day. She tellsme they were great days.

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I wrote to Bob , asking if he had a list of Ross' recordings . Today he replied -

' Thanks for your letter.Ross is well,I spoke to himtoday and he tells he still sings at local events whenhe is up to it.

Sorry I do not have a list of his recordings althoughI do have a few of them on various labels.

Today he was telling me about his time spent withFrankie Vaughan.During our conversation I mention youwriting to me asking about him and his reply was it isgood to know he still has at least two fans,you andI. He tells me he is now in his 80's.'

Last edited by johnfoyle on Sat Nov 26, 2011 4:30 am, edited 5 times in total.

I have a CD of Ross MacManus songs, called Elvis' Dad Sings Elvis and it is Ross MacManus singing Elvis Presley. It was recorded in 1970ish and released on CD on the Hallmark label. The slow songs, like Love Me Tender, sound like EC! I tried finding more by Ross by scouring Joe Loss LPs at car boot sales but no luck, though I did find a Joe Loss Latin American LP called I Came, I Saw, I Conga'd which must qualify for the best album title EVER.

I know Ronan MacManus (Ross's son) is collecting his dad's recordings as he bought one from me through ebay!

Are any records by Elvis Costelloâ€™s father, Ross McManus, still available?

Pat Miller, via e-mail

Fred says: According to Amazon, the only Ross McManus CD around (but officially out of print) is Elvisâ€™ Dad sings Elvis, a Hallmark label release on which the one-time Joe Loss big band singer tackles a dozen hits by the previous Elvis. But the trumpet-playing McManus, who used to figure highly in popularity polls during his era as a band singer, has pieced together a fair number of recordings over the years. Firstly there are the sides he recorded with Loss. There then followed a number of solo recordings for the Embassy label, usually under such pseudonyms as Hal Burton and David Ross. During 1966 he had a solo hit in some countries with his own, ska-slanted Patsy Girl.Then McManus turned up as Day Costello to record The Long And Winding Road during 1970, while an album under his own name, titled The Leaving Of Liverpool, appeared on the Rediffusion label during 1962. Additionally, beating Andy Williams to the punch, he recorded a version of Canâ€™t Take My Eyes Off You for Decca early on. But it was Williamsâ€™ later interpretation that gained both the cash and kudos. So the McManus catalogue is a pretty wide one, and his CV is not all about being merely Declanâ€™s pater, providing the vocals on that Secret Lemonade Drinker ad, or even spawning another singer in Ronan McManus, leader of Slainte.

Another item from my cuttings folder , not previously, as far as I can see, on the 'net .

( across two pages, hence the line)

Relative Values, The Sunday Times
July 17 1994

By Markie Robson-Scott. Photograph: Tim Oâ€™Sullivan
Main picture photographed in the Palm Court Lounge at the Waldorf Hotel, London.

Elvis Costello and his father Ross MacManus, singers

Declan MacManus, aka Elvis Costello, 39, grew up in Twickenham and Liverpool. His 15th and most recent album, Brutal Youth, reunited him with his band, the Attractions, after seven years. He lives in Dublin and London with his wife, ex-Pogue Cait Oâ€™Riordan, and has a grown-up son by his first marriage. His father, Ross MacManus, 62 sang with the Joe Loss orchestra for 18 years and recently stopped touring as a solo performer. He lives with his second wife; they have four sons.

Elvis Costello; For as long as I can remember my father was with the Joe Loss orchestra. Other peopleâ€™s dads went to the office, mine went to the Hammersmith Palais. In the holidays Iâ€™d go with him and watch. The guest group would arrive and it could be a really big pop star. It was always pot luck; sometimes it would be The Hollies, sometimes Engelbert Humperdinck.

My dad was probably the most versatile of the three singers with Joe Loss and he was given the most challenging songs. They were difficult interpretatively rather than technically. Joe Loss survived as a popular band into the era of music that was completely at odds with the line-up. From 1962 onwards groups were two guitars, bass and drums, and here was this 15-piece orchestra which didnâ€™t restrict itself to Dusty Springfield or ballads but did very credible arrangements of quite way-out stuff. They had to learn things like Pink Floydâ€™s Arnold Layne, See Emily Play, even Dylanâ€™s Subterranean Homesick Blues.

At home, Dad rigged up a repeat device with elastic bands and pencils on our Decca Decalion to trick the record player into thinking it had dropped another record. It would play the song over and over again and heâ€™d sit there and work on it; he wouldnâ€™t sing out all the time but heâ€™d have to test certain bits and make sure they were in the right key. His voice was very loud â€” mine is as well â€” and sometimes Iâ€™d almost jump out of my skin.

My grandad was an orphan and ended up in a military school of music, so he had a very formal training. Dad was a jazzer; he could read music but it was bebop time, like the punk of jazz. My grandad thought you should learn the rules but my dad realised he had a good ear and could get along doing certain things where the rules didnâ€™t matter. The whole point of the music was that you broke the rules. I had no pressure from him to learn any instrument. I only learned to read music two years ago.

When people misrepresent me Dad writes to them. He understands the pitfalls. He had a single called Patsy Girl that went to number one in Germany in the mid-1960s.

And Joe Loss played very big shows. Iâ€™ve got a tape of the NME winners poll in 1963 or -1964 with the Stones topping the bill. Wembley Arena is completely jammed with screaming kids and my dad comes out and does If I Had A Hammer. When he came to see me at the Dominion in 1978, it was such a combative atmosphere. He said, â€œThey just want to see you dieâ€™ . When I did the Juliet Letters with the Brodsky Quartet there was a high B, the highest note I can really hit. Dad said, â€œNever look up to the note, look down on it?â€™ Every time I went for that note in concert I thought of that.

My son Matthew is a musician; heâ€™s got to try and work out what he wants to do in life just as I had to in relation to my dad, and as he had to do in relation to his. Itâ€™s an anti-conformity; we canâ€™t set a blueprint for it.

Ross MacManus: When he was about five Declan told me he thought the dad on television was a different dad to the one that came home. The strange thing is that I feel the same way about him now.

Iâ€™d bring home acetates of new songs to learn for the radio show, and when he was three heâ€™d say, â€œSiomesesâ€

Ross McManus. will be the grand age of 80 on Oct. 20 '07. The more I listen to his recordings the more I enjoy them, hearing a voice of consistency and directness which was clearly a example that Elvis was lucky to inherit.

A mutual friend in the U.K. has agreed with a request that I send a card to Ross via him and will gladly pass on any more he receives.

It's a surprisingly rootsy recording. Ross uses his Mersey accent to full effect, 'girls' is sung 'gairls' etc. Aside from the accordion sounds (eternally damned by Foster and Allen associations for me) the instrumentation is acoustic.

A highlight is The Sailor's Return , Ross' voice featuring unaccompanied for most of the song. Hear it here -

01. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
02. Watching The Detectives
03. Either Side Of The Same Town
04. The River In Reverse (line from I Don't Want To Be A Soldier)
05. Down Among The Wines And Spirits
06. At Last - first time in concert, for father's 80th birthday 07. High Fidelity
08. From Sulphur To Sugarcane
09. Alison - new melody in second verse
10. Radio Sweetheart/ Jackie Wilson Said
11. Uncomplicated / Not Fade Away
12. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?
13. The Scarlet Tide

Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.

The performance of "At Last" was really sweet. He introduced it by saying that it was his dad's birthday and if he wasn't here with us fine folks, there was nowhere else he'd rather be than with dad. He said that it was one of the first songs his dad taught him and couldn't help mention that it was written in the forties when people were being shipped off to war. He didn't announce the title though, but as soon as he began singing it, the audience went nuts, obviously recognizing it (not that it's an obscure tune). It was a delicate performance, not in the Etta James vein, and after it he shouted out, "That's for Ross."

At this point, can I highly recommend the new CD by Biblecodesundays, the band which features Ronan MacManus, Ross's son. The album is called Boots or no Boots and is available from their website. Another reason for the recommendation is that the lyrics of one song are written by Ross, with music by another of his sons, Keiran. It is a beautiful spoken word piece, with haunting musiacl backing.

The whole album is great and if you love the Pogues style of Irish rockers with a mixture of beautiful ballads, then this is right up your street!

A heady cocktail of sex and celebrity has made 'Strictly Come Dancing' one of the great light entertainment hits of our time. But what about the show that inspired it? Christopher Hirst looks back

Published: 01 December 2007

The prodigious and, for some of us, utterly perplexing success of Strictly Come Dancing has eclipsed the long-running predecessor that endowed this tatty glorification of celebrity with two thirds of its name. For anyone who grew up in the Fifties and Sixties, Come Dancing was part of the furniture. Though the effect of the thousands of sequins "all sewn on by hand" was vitiated by monochrome, the regimented couples swirling in the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool, or the Lyceum "in London's West End" held the nation in thrall.

Decades later, when the dresses, particularly for the Latin-American section, had shrunk to a few strategically placed fragments, Come Dancing provided a singularly bizarre late-night entertainment, particularly if the viewer's sensibility had been enhanced by a mild intoxicant.

The dancing element in Come Dancing was merely the canvas for a demotic art form that exulted in the British profound fondness for high camp. The lavish primping answered our deep-felt desire for dressing up, while the stylised coupling provided a steamy release for passions pent up in suburban homes from Lancastrian back-to-backs to south coast bungalows.

We may not have viewed these flamboyant displays of male hauteur and female fluttering â€“ surely one of the weirdest mating rituals in the entire animal kingdom â€“ with a wholly unironic eye, but it was undoubtedly an art of the people. Strictly Come Dancing is theatre of embarrassment for celebs. Watching a middle-order batsman essay the Cha Cha Cha is akin to Dr Johnson's view of a woman preaching: "It is like a dog walking on its hind legs. It is not done well but one is surprised to see it done at all."

It will be interesting to see if the Strictly spin-off manages the longevity of Come Dancing. The show started in 1949 and continued, despite one or two breaks and makeovers, until 1998. As the name implies, it began as a TV tutorial aimed at "teaching the public all about the joy of dancing".

The idea that lessons in the Quickstep and Foxtrot could offer release from the grim deprivations of Austerity Britain came from Eric Morley, who was head of publicity at the Mecca organisation at the time. Recognising that there was further lucrative potential in the rigidly fixed smile and gravity-defying hair-do, he launched Miss World in 1951.

With the quiffed compere MacDonald Hobley at the helm, the nation was urged to essay the exotic delights of the Samba and Rumba. Though some viewers may have been driven to frenzied imitation of the professional dancers Syd Perkins and Edna Duffield, the tutorial aspect of Come Dancing was steadily diminished. From 1953, its competitive aspect came to the fore. Couples battled on the dance floor for "the coveted Come Dancing trophy". Frank and Peggy Spencer from Penge, south-east London, were presiding deities of the formation dancing competition.

For 30 years, musical accompaniment was provided by the Andy Ross Big Band, with Ross McManus, possibly better known as the father of Elvis Costello, providing the vocals.

A pantheon of broadcasting talent introduced the programme. Early comperes, their names redolent of the monochrome era, included Peter Dimmock, Sylvia Peters, Peter Haigh and Brian Johnston. The longest-lasting was Peter West, who presented the show from 1957 to 1972, despite admitting that he was "the worst dancer in the world". In later years, such heroes of middle Britain as Terry Wogan, David Jacobs, Michael Aspel, Judith Chalmers and Angela Rippon added polish to the dance floor. It was during West's long reign that the programme began to moderate the sedate traditions of the ballroom â€“ man with hand on hip, woman with outer layer of skirt weirdly attached to a finger â€“ with more raunchy routines from the world of pop. During the freeform section, dancers would pretend to be gangsters and molls in a routine accompanied by the Godfather theme or jiving teddy boys to "Rock Around the Clock". I even have vague memories of a highly modified form of hippie dancing to "Aquarius" or, possibly, Stevie Wonder's "Sunshine of My Life".

The diversion from the norm that attracted the most comment was in the Latin-American section. When sultry Latino styles infiltrated the ballroom, viewers began a war dance. "Can nothing be done to stop this filth?" one outraged spectator wrote to West. "It's embarrassing with teenagers in the house." A Scottish viewer appeared to blame the presenter personally for an eruption of depravity during the Pasa Doble. "Stop this tomfoolery at once," he frothed. "If you don't, then show your face in certain parts of Scotland and you'll be hung, drawn and quartered." But Come Dancing's place in the nation's heart was assured. It earned the accolade of parodies by shows ranging from The Goodies to Morecambe & Wise. In a dire premonition of what was to come, participants in Bruce Forsyth's Generation Game tried to imitate the smooth moves displayed by Come Dancing regulars.

Why did Come Dancing retain its popularity, while empty Locarnos and Meccas throughout the land were obliged to allow in the dread beat of pop? Even after the Beatles' first LP, knowledge of ballroom dancing was widely regarded as an essential acquisition in the path to social advancement and finding a partner. In 1967, when I was in the sixth form of a Midlands grammar school, we were trained in the dark arts of the Waltz and Cha Cha Cha. A scratchy Joe Loss record provided the accompaniment. "Two steps to the left, one to the right and spin your partner in a three-quarter turn," announced the bird-like instructor to her unreceptive pupils. Ever since my miserable efforts in the school gym during the Summer of Love I have never felt the remotest desire to engage in formal dancing.

Somewhat to my surprise, I discovered a taste for watching Come Dancing during its final years, when a valiant attempt was made to introduce more pizzazz into the contest. This was exemplified in 1992 by the BBC dropping the long-time signature tune "Keep on Dancing" for a ditty called "Feel the Heat".

It was the odd details of this very odd show that appealed. The extraordinary youth of the contestants was one element. Often, a whirling couple, dressed as if they might be in their mid-thirties, with the woman's hair pinned up and the man looking coolly into the distance with chin aloft, turned out to be 15 and 16.

Dance routines became ever more fervent, wildly active and erotic in order to sway the votes of observing judges. The slits in skirts grew even higher, while the hairspray expended in the creation of ever more unfeasible coiffures must have wrought havoc on the ozone layer. At the end of a dance, the camera would cut between the panting couples, still trying to maintain their uncanny rictus, and the panel of judges, customarily headed by the perma-tanned "World Professional Latin Champion" Donny Burns. "So it's London 6 and the North close behind with 5." In the mysterious way of sport, you would find your ironic detachment evaporating as you began rooting for the North, even though, presumably due to lack of entrants, the North's formation dance team happened to come from Leicester.

In 1998, the spangled ball stopped turning. Some might say that it is rotating faster than ever now the old formula has been revivified by an infusion of celebrities. But I for one find it impossible to get excited. The strained efforts of Mark Ramprakash or Gabby Logan cannot compare with the terpsichorean genius of the Peggy Spencer Latin Formation Team.

I bought this one earlier this year from a man selling used LP's out of a van here in rural Norway!

Here is a scan of the text on the backside of the cover:

A legend In his own lifetime, Elvis Aaron Presley arrived on the world's pop scene in 1956; the mid-fifties were wild and in many ways
unsophisticated years and rock 'n' roll came along to make its indelible maik in music history.
"Heartbreak Hotel" (included on this album) was the first million-seller by Presley and the long, fantastic reign of 'The King* had started.
The ?iext stop was the film studio and Fox signed Elvis to co-star with Richard Egan and Debra Paget in "Love Me Tender"; the title song
was another gold disc winner and the first of many film song hits by Presley. Also included here is the song from one of the greatest
Presley film sequences to date - the title number from "Jailhouse Rock". This was in 1957 and Elvis was already an experienced
recipiant of gold disc awards.
Twelve years later, still very much on top form, Presley was in a TV studio producing a memorable NBC special that will always stand
out in the minds of those who saw it.
Then in 1970, a cabaret appearance in Las Vegas and reports that raved as much as ever.
And still the hits come - four of the most recent included in this tribute - particularly the solemn "In The Ghetto" and the momentous
closing number from his TV special - "If I Can Dream".
It is unlikely that a single pop singer will achieve as much fame again as Presley has done; for this and his outstanding talent we salute
him and present this album as a humble yet significant tribute.
Alan Wamer.

ABOUT ROSS McMANUS
So many of the current wave of singers hail from Merseyside and it was typical of Ross McManus to manage to be born right in fashion.
But the way he goes about his business is anything but in a rut.
For instance, he recently took a non-singing role before the TV cameras in company with Abbey and National Theatre players in
Alun Owen's play "Time For The Funny Walk", but still got all the reviews.
And again, in an emergency he played conga drums and bongos for a West Indian fire-eating act on TV and found himself quoted as an
"authentic expert" on their rhythms.
Getting down to brass tacks on this LP, you will never be able to ignore "Scouse" Ross's fantastic vocal talent - certainly one of the
finest in the land - for the proof is right here on this tribute to Elvis. As the most successful postwar male vocalist, Elvis is a hard man
to follow. In singing his biggest hits you will surely agree that Ross does a tremendous job.